Memory

Processing

The operations we perform on sensory information in the brain

Input

Refers to the sensory information we receive from our environment

Storage

Retention of information in our memory

Encoding

Turning sensory information into a form that can be stored and used by the brain

Acoustic encoding

Storing sound

Visual encoding

Storing something that is seen

Semantic encoding

Storing the meaning of information in out memory, rather than the sound or the word

Output

Information we recall

Retrieval

Recall of stored memories

Short-term memory (STM)

Our initial memory store that is temporary and limited (15-30s)

Long-term memory

Memory store that holds potentially limitless amounts of information for up to a lifetime

Duration

The length of time information can be stored in short-term and long-term memory

Capacity

Amount of information that can be stored in STM and LTM

Rehearse

When we repeat information over and over to make it stick (LTM)

Displacement

When the STM replaces the old information

Interference

When new information overrides older information

Amnesia

Memory loss, often through an accident, disease, or injury

Anterograde amnesia

Can’t remember anything after the accident (LTM is not intact)

Retrograde amnesia

Can’t remember anything before the accident (LTM is intact)

Active reconstruction

Memory that is not an exact copy of what we experienced, but an interpretation of events that are influenced by our schema

Schema

A packet of knowledge that influences what you remember

Omission

When we leave out details when explaining something

Transformation

Details are changed to make them more familiar and rational

Familiarisation

Unfamiliar details are changed to align with our own schema

Rationalisation

Adding details to our recall to give a reason that may not have originally fitted with the schema

Cognitive interview

Police interview to ensure a witness to a crime does not actively reconstruct their memory

Subjective

Based on personal opinions or feelings

Sensory register

Our immediate memory of sensory information

Attention

Focus on certain sensory information

Iconic memory

Sensory register for visual information

Echoic memory

Sensory register for sound

Modality free

Not linked to a specific type of sensory information

Primacy-recency

The tendency to recall things in the beginning and end

Reductionism/reductionist

The theory of explaining something according to individual parts

Holism/holistic

The theory of explaining something as a whole